


Keeping Time With the Beat of Your Heart

by lunchgroup



Series: Keeping Time With the Beat of Your Heart [1]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Deaf Newt, Good fluffy shit, M/M, Pre-Movie: Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 16:29:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15174749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunchgroup/pseuds/lunchgroup
Summary: Hermann finally learns something about his labmate that doesn't make him complain to Pentecost.





	Keeping Time With the Beat of Your Heart

Herman thumped his cane on the floor. No response. He tried to chuck a chalkboard eraser at Newton’s head but missed by a mile. Finally, he crossed the tape line to knock on Newt’s desk. Newt looked up, wild-eyed, and made a “what?” gesture with the hand that wasn’t elbow-deep in kaiju innards. Hermann pointed at the stereo, then made a slashing noise across his neck. The music was beginning to be quite enough. Newt shook his head and pointed, “you, stereo,” which meant there was no way he was leaving the table. Hermann hmphed and went to turn it off himself. On his way back, Newt made a half-assed attempt to trip the jerk, but Hermann easily walked around it. At least this time.

Just over seven minutes later —Hermann was watching the clock— Newt finally gave up, ripped off his gloves, slapped on a pair of over-ear headphones, and turned his music back on. The sound still leaked through, and Hermann almost made a remark about hearing damage before he stopped himself. Not that it would have mattered if he hadn't.

The mathematician was eventually able to drown out Newt’s headphones with the creaking of chalk and tapping of computer keys, until the guy started _singing along_. Hermann was so close to flat-out kicking him out for the day, but he stopped before even turning around. Newt was… pretty good. Sure, his voice cracked from whisper to scream in the same note, but from what Hermann could tell, he was hitting all the words in the right time and pitch. As aggressive as the music was, he stopped writing for a minute to just listen to Newt sing.

He must have been idle too obviously for too long. He heard a knock on the other’s desk, which made him jump. He turned around sheepishly to see Newt’s eyes squinted with suspicion, his index finger wagging in time with his eyebrows, which Hermann had learned to mean, “?” Thinking fast, Hermann shook his head dismissively, pointed and his head, then his board. Newt again squinted his eyes with skepticism, but dove back into his specimen.

He didn’t sing for the rest of the week.

Finally one relatively quiet afternoon —Newt had graciously turned down the stereo two notches— Hermann scribbled on an unused corner of his board and rapped it with his cane. Newt looked up and squinted at it, then turned bright red.

“Why did you stop singing?” was the message. Newt looked around for a pen, paper, something to write with; he knew Hermann hadn’t yet learned how to fingerspell. Finding nothing to use, he held up a flat gloved hand and began tracing letters on it with his right.

“E-M-B-A-R-R-A-S-S-E-D,” was his reply. Hermann frowned in a thin, crooked line. But Newt read his expression perfectly. His eyebrows were pressed together, his eyes were soft as his body language, and his head was tilted. _Disappointed_ , his appearance said loud and clear.

Copying Newt, Hermann rested his cane on his ladder, holding up his hands to trace, “LOVELY.” Newt somehow blushed even redder at this.

“Thank you,” he pronounced, while making the sign. Hermann copied him carefully, and Newt grinned, nodding with enthusiasm. 

Newt tried not to dwell on how beautiful Hermann’s chalk-smudged fingers were.

**Author's Note:**

> I was so excited to write this I banged it out in one day! I love ASL and the Deaf community so naturally I combined it with my favorite fictional boy. I drew everything from my own knowledge/experience so feel free to correct anything. Definitely be on the lookout for more of this universe!


End file.
